Houston has finally confirmed that it will host a bowl this year.
The yet-to-be-named bowl, which will replace the financially strapped Houston Bowl, will be held Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium. The game will be managed by Lone Star Sports & Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Texans. Under the four-year agreement, the bowl will rotate in teams from the Big 12, Big East, Conference USA and Mountain West conferences.
Details have not been finalized, but this year’s game tentatively will feature the Big 12’s No. 8 team against the No. 4 Big East team, according to two college football officials. C-USA would provide a team at least twice during the four-year agreement, conference commissioner Britton Banowsky said.
The title sponsor and broadcast partner could be named later this week. The game is expected to be televised in prime time on the NFL Network.
The payout was dropped from $1.2 million to $750,000. The bowl still owes around $1.2 million to the Big 12 and Mountain West for this past year’s Houston Bowl. There’s no guarantees that they’ll ever see that money. Still the Big 12 continues to participate because they aren’t going to give up their “turf”.